They argue Kim Jong-un and Yoon Seok-yeol have “mutual interests”
As North Korea conducted its sixth missile test this month, even lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) have changed their pro-North stance to strongly condemn the North’s actions and asked the Moon Jae-in administration to take a clear position on Pyongyang’s provocations.
Interestingly, they also argued that North Korea’s provocations are helping Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and that Kim Jong-un and Yoon have “mutual interests.”
North Korea fired what are presumed to be two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday. The South Korean military reported that two projectiles were launched from Hamhung near North Korea’s central east coast at 8 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. local time, landing in the sea after flying about 190 kilometers (118 miles) and reaching an altitude of about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles).
On Thursday, lawmakers from the DP serving on the National Defense Committee released a statement saying, “We strongly condemn North Korea’s continuous political and military provocations.”
“North Korea is trying to set the Korean Peninsula’s clock back to before the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics,” they said. “They recently mentioned resuming tests of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that they promised to suspend in 2018. North Korea should not throw away the trust that the two leaders of the two Koreas built.”
The DP lawmakers added that “we clearly want to state that Kim Jong-un will be fully responsible for any misjudgment and if he heads toward the wrong direction, he will also face criticism from all those peace-loving people and be sternly judged by history.”
The DP lawmakers brought up a conspiracy theory that has circulated in South Korea for decades. The theory is that the conservatives benefit from North Korean provocations, so they try to encourage Pyongyang to do so. Conservatives tend to benefit when North Korea undertakes provocations because leftists tend to prioritize “peace” over tension. In previous elections, leftists have criticized conservatives for exacerbating North Korean threats.
“North Korea’s continuous provocations with just 40 days until the presidential election mean that they are trying to intervene in the election,” the DP lawmakers said. They argued that a tough stance toward Pyongyang attracts attention when the military tension is heightened.
“Along with North Korea’s provocations, Yoon continues to make tough statements such as a preemptive strike or using every measure possible to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” they said. “People’s life and safety cannot be bargained with. Yoon’s arguments are just a political show.”
Then they argued that “we are experiencing the revival of a relationship of hostile dependency.” They said that the two Korean governments used the conflict and tension between the two to strengthen each of their ruling powers during the Cold War.
“Kim Jong-un needs to find a way to solidify his power structure due to the weakened economic situation following the collapse of talks with the United States,” the DP lawmakers said. “Yoon needs to solidify conservatives by announcing tough policies toward Pyongyang and criticizing the current administration. These two people’s interests completely match.”
The DP lawmakers also criticized the Moon administration, which is very rare, and some commentators speculated that they are trying to keep their distance from Moon ahead of the election.
“The government should have a clear stance toward North Korea’s provocations,” they said. “We need to respond based on principles. Emphasizing talk doesn’t make North Korea come to the table. It is North Korea that is breaking its promises.”
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the DP, met with reporters on Thursday and condemned North Korea’s missile launches.
“There has been no case so far where North Korea fired this many missiles in the month of January,” Lee said. “It would be better for them to refrain from military provocations that can affect the political situation in the South during the election period.”
He added that the provocations “continue to affect the election negatively and there are some suspicions whether they are trying to intervene in the Republic of Korea’s internal affairs.”
On Thursday, PPP candidate Yoon also released a statement condemning North Korea for its continuous provocations and the Moon administration for keeping a servile attitude toward Pyongyang.
“The current administration is just repeating ‘concern’ and ‘regret’ while North Korea is provoking once every four or five days,” he said. “Unification Minister Lee In-young continues to argue that ‘we have to make progress in peace,’ and it appears that he is still reluctant to give up on declaring an end to the Korean War. The DP administration’s ‘peace process’ completely failed and the result of ‘fake peace’ is six missile launches in the new year. People are outraged by the government’s servile attitude.”
Yoon added that peace does not come just because people call for peace. “Peace is something that we protect,” he said. “I will neutralize North Korea’s will to provoke through overwhelming power.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of State told the Voice of America that it condemns North Korea’s ballistic missile launches.
“The United States condemns the DPRK’s ballistic missile launches,” the spokesperson said. “These tests, along with the six other ballistic missile launches this month, are in violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and pose a threat to the DPRK’s neighbors and the international community.”
